Breaking down the Millennial Myth
We’ve all heard it and many of us have said it: “Millennials are lazy. Millennials are entitled. Millennials are minimalists. Millennials are selfish. Millennials don’t’ know how to deal with disappointment. Millennials are not motivated by money. Millennials can’t communicate unless they have a smart phone keypad.” And the list of negative connotations goes on and on.
As a Sales Leader you have no choice but to adapt and modify. Millennials are part of the new sales work force and they are here to stay. Currently companies are hiring them for top of the funnel and or in-bound sales positions. There are number of acronyms for these new positions. BSR, BDR, ARS, NBD, and the list goes on and on.
“Millennials care less about financial gain as compared to Gen Xers and Boomers. Gen Xers and Boomers grew up in a system with abundant opportunity to grow financially. Hard work = major financial gains. Most Millennials came of age in a post 911 world, a global financial crisis, and two wars. Many of our peers and friends have never moved out of their childhood home, because their parents can still and in some cases enjoy providing for them. They would rather work random jobs that bring them happiness, flexibility, and the means to travel. In some cases, they cannot leave home (forget buying a house) because their salary cannot cover both rent, student loans and food. With a lack of opportunity to advance steadily in the workforce, they look for satisfaction in other places, such as social causes and personal fulfillment. These negative statements made by many Gen Xers and Boomers and they are offensive and untrue.” By Olivia Shea
“Millennials are viewed as “lazy” because we don’t do things according to they way the older generation does things. We are ‘ungrateful’ because we inherited a world that tells us no matter how hard we work, it will not be enough to be achieve ‘The American Dream’. We are ‘entitled’ because we feel as though we deserve more from life but were not taught the tools to achieve it. Now that we are older and entering the work force, that entitlement becomes difficult for employers because Millennials do not want to settle for less than they feel they are worth. Millennials are ‘self-absorbed’ because parents gave them all trophies and never taught them what it feels like to lose. The formative years of Millennials were marked by the most rapidly growing technological advancement in history, which has had a profound effect on everyone, (VHS to the iPhone 7). Millennials may seem self-absorbed because of how we act on the social media, but when it comes to global responsibility our values overwhelmingly reflect social inclusion.”
So the real question about hiring Millennial Sales staff is:
Who can sell vs. Who WILL sell?